>
Una Merkel
This wry, wisecracking blonde never became a star, but brightened up scores of films in the 1930s as the heroine's pal, co-worker or rival. The Kentucky native got her start as a model, drifting into acting in the mid-20s. By 1927, she was appearing on Broadway with Helen Hayes in "Coquette" and three years later was discovered by D.W. Griffith, who cast her as the wan, tragic Ann Rutledge in "Abraham Lincoln."